Hello Joel,

Thank you for a fascinating look inside the reporting season for sustainability and consumers. After summarizing your article, I went back and read the reports you cited. There seems to be a common thread among these reports; consumers are expected to act in a manner which clashes with their natural inclinations in order to support the growth of sustainable business. I wonder what the surveying firms expected when they ventured out into this vast world of “green” consumer habits, mores, and beliefs. Report after report discussed the voice of the consumer, the green misperceptions of the consumer, the disbelief the consumer has in corporations and their messaging. The whole discussion about the move towards sustainable business is akin to forcing an idea down someone’s throat. It has nothing to do with the reason that business is in existence; to make money, perpetuate itself and employ people. It also has nothing to do with the message that people really just want to get good products that work well and hopefully don’t do any harm.

It would seem that the most prudent thing a corporation can do is actually embody practices in their core business that will result in them being more sustainable. Whether they advertise it or not is irrelevant because if done correctly, sustainable measures can create positive impact to their bottom line and please consumers and stockholders alike. Ray Anderson and Interface, Inc. is a perfect example of this concept. Ultimately, the goal of sustainability is to encourage business to operate in a resource efficient manner that puts people, both internal and external, at the forefront of its mindset. And, in fact, there is a quiet, but growing movement among corporations to reduce their energy use (Carbon Disclosure Project), change their supply chain practices (WalMart and its pied piper effect) , and create earth friendly packaging practices (AMERIPEN). They do this not because it is a cool marketing gimmick or they are suddenly philanthropically minded, but because they know that resources like energy and water are coming under increased constraints in a growing competitive market and if they DON’T do this, they will not have a business in the future. Is this selfish? Perhaps. Is it smart? Absolutely!

What would be of more interest to me, as a sustainable investor and a Green MBA student, is to understand how to impact the daily living practices of people who have no idea at all about sustainability. Beyond economic considerations, what would it take for them to turn their attention to something new and natural? How can we leverage the intersection of a consumer’s needs and the needs of the planet? Clotaire Rapaille’s exploration of the American consumer mindset in his compelling book, The Culture Code, turned my concepts about consumers and belief systems upside down.

I would also love to hear about what companies other than Proctor and Gamble, WalMart, Nike and Coca-Cola are doing to evolve their core businesses to embody sustainable practices. The corporations who are changing their methods now are doing so to enable themselves to continue selling more goods to an ever larger, global consumer base. Period. In my view, corporations just need to make a good product that works and takes into consideration the care of their people and the planet. Stop trying to make the consumer the person who needs to make the change. After all, it is these very same corporations who helped us arrive at this exact moment in our collective consumer history.

Thanks for your continuing efforts,

Lisa Tamayo
Green MBA candidate
Dominican University

Wonderful collection of reports and studies, not that the news is terribly encouraging.

Thank you!

Thanks for the great article that holds some disturbing truth. One being that consumers don’t trust big corporations are as green as they say they are. Second, there is an overall lack of education of the complex meaning behind sustainability and all that can be done to head in that direction. And finally price holds so many people back. Many people are still in survival mode, unemployed or trying to play catch up.

I recently completed MBA studies in Sustainable Business and now find a huge gap between the like-minded people I was surrounded by and real-world businesses who still look at me like a deer –in-headlights when I ask if there company employs a sustainability position or implements sustainable business practices.

Even in creating the National Association of Eco-Friendly Salons & Spas, I grossly underestimated the desire for salon and spa owners to find interest in learning about sustainable business practices. Turns out another company in the salon and spa industry, whose mission for the past 30 years has been to create a more environmentally friendly industry, also faces similar challenges to educating salon and spa owners.

In my opinion, in order to make sustainability a reality, it has to become part of a person’s or company’s DNA. The message has to be delivered consistently, without adding fear or guilt. Leading by example and guiding others gently through applicable education may just yield exponential results.

Joel,
Good article, as usual, and right on the money. I produce green fair events for corporate employees and have educated over 30,000 on how to go green at work and home. The #1 comment we get on exit surveys is "I didn't realize how many green options there are".

Consumers are so busy they feel lack of time is the real problem; they can't walk the talk because they are "distracted" by immediate needs of work, family and free time (exercising, volunteering, etc). They do want to go green but don't know where to start. Whole Foods is successful because consumers are willing to pay a premium for pre-selected sustainable grown organic produce and other food products that are clearly labeled as such. Which means the consumer does not have to think "is this a good (green/organic) product or not?". They just have to buy what they want and pay the dividend to do so.

Office Depot and Staples have large selections of green office supplies but don't promote them within the store. I have to search them out, one by one. There is no icon or color coded symbol to tell me that this notebook is green. So this is an example of two companies who have green products but don't promote them to encourage consumers to change some of their buying habits. With Earth Week coming up we'll probably see some more visibility of their green office supplies.

One of the problems is that consumers have been trained to always want to a bargain and won't even consider paying more for organic or green products. This is a false way of thinking as the more consumers demand green/organic products the more likely the price will come down. Businesses are followers of trends not creators, except for the Apples of the world. Corporations need to get a clear signal from consumers that they are willing to spend money on sustainable products but at a reasonable cost. Consumers need a loud message from corporations that they are committed to going green, having greener products and lowering the cost to the consumer at the same time.

Right now we're stuck in the middle. One of these groups need to take the first step on a large scale and my guess it’s going to be a vanguard of corporations who seize the opportunity. A corporate “green alliance” needs to be formed to promote a Manhattan Project size cooperative effort to provide consumers with the education and incentives to go green on a regular basis.